Minister 'determined to abolish labour brokers'

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana is determined to abolish labour brokers even though government departments paid them millions last year, his spokesman said on Thursday.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said this week that answers to parliamentary questions showed government departments spent more than R140-million on labour brokers in the 2008/09 financial year.

Responding to the DA findings, Mdladlana’s spokesperson Mzobanzi Jikazana said in a statement the minister had “reiterated his determination to stamp out abusive workplace tendencies attributed to labour brokers”.

There was extensive evidence that many labour brokers exploited workers and breached their rights under labour legislation.

“[Mdladlana] says the labour broking tendency is against the law no matter who practices it, be it a public or a private sector.

“Mdladlana has congratulated the Democratic Alliance for conducting a survey that clearly supports his intention to root out this form of human trafficking from all sectors of the economy.”

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has called on the government to ban the industry to curb exploitation of temporary workers.—Sapa